Pianist
and composer Kenny Clayton b. 09 May 1936, took his first piano lesson
at the age of seven. By the age of eleven he had passed all eight grades
in piano examination and went on to study at Trinity Music College,
London in 1947. By the age of twenty-one Kenny became a professional
musician.

In the
late fifties Kenny firmly established himself as a working pianist and
accompanied Alma Cogan and Terry Dean on a tour of Empire theatres as
well as working with Shani Wallis, Jeannie Carson, Libby Morris and Joan
Turner.

Having
achieved success on the popular UK variety circuit, Kenny was quickly
signed to EMI / Parlophone and released his first single; Tenerife
b/w String Gloves both produced by Walter Ridley. Kenny premiered
his new single in September 1961 by performing a solo spot on the
British TV music series Thank Your Lucky Stars. The single picked
up radio airplay but failed to register in the UK pop charts.

Any
hopes of more recording work for EMI / Parlophone were dashed when Kenny met with Petula
Clark in 1962. Kenny recalls: "I had a call from my agent who
said that Petula Clark was looking for a musical director / pianist for
her upcoming tour of France as Petula's then pianist Kenny Powell, who
had recorded an album with Petula (IN OTHER WORDS), was unavailable. I auditioned for Petula
and her husband the next day and I was immediately taken on and then spent the next
15 months on the road with Petula - we travelled all around the Mediterranean,
The South of France and Beirut. It was superb and one of the best times
of my life."

Kenny
briefly rejoined Petula in 1974 as arranger of Your Cheatin' Heart
for the 1974 Royal Albert Hall Concert (issued on LP and CD) and also
accompanied Petula as musical director on her trip to South Africa
taking in concert venues in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.

In 1979
(and until 2009), Kenny rejoined Petula as her permanent musical
director and advisor.

One of
the highlights from Kenny's 2015 album Hommage is a moving
version of Give It A Try, a song he composed with additional
lyrics provided by Petula. The song began life in the early 1980's when
Clayton composed a melody and lyric to a song originally entitled Face
To Face. He has since explained that the melody was his attempt at a
writing a song in the style of Neil Sedaka's Solitaire. Clayton
presented the song to Petula who adapted his original lyric and
re-titled it Give It A Try, also composing an alternate chorus
and bridge. Give It A Try was first presented live during a New
Year's Eve special that Petula made for Yorkshire Television in 1983.
Petula also performed the song on her 1984 UK concert tour. Two years
later, on 19 September 1986, Petula recorded Give It A Try at
Olympic Studios in Barnes. Give It A Try became the title track
for an album Petula recorded for the Jango Music Corporation in the US.
Petula re-recorded eleven of her classic hits together with two new
songs including Give It A Try.

In
1983, Kenny collaborated with Petula on Life Is A Song, a special
and personal 13 minute musical piece for the occasion of Petula's 40th
anniversary concert staged at London's Royal Albert Hall broadcast by
the BBC and issued on record. For the occasion, Kenny also devised and
orchestrated a six minute opening Overture based on Petula's past
successes. Kenny is also joint composer of the composition Amen
written for the Clark / Shipman musical Someone Like You.

RECORDINGS

Clayton
has worked on various other Clark recording projects including: Edelweiss
(1981), London Revival recording of The Sound Of Music (1981), An
Hour In Concert With Petula Clark (1983), Lollipops & Fish
Fingers (1984), demo and commercial recordings for the Clark /
Shipman musical Someone Like You (various 1985 - 1990), Where
The Heart Is (1998), Here For You (1998), Sign of The
Times (2001), Live At The Paris Olympia (2004), Together
& Driven By Emotion (2006), Film Themes for In Her Own
Write (2007) and Then & Now (2008).

TELEVISION

Notable
TV appearances as musical director for Petula Clark include: the TV
musical play Traces of Love (1979), At The Turn Of Year
(1979), Petula - 40th Anniversary Concert (1983), Petula - I
Concentrate On You (1983), Thames Telethon (1985), Pebble
Mill At One (1996), The National Lottery for Petula Clark in Sunset
Boulevard (1996) and The South Bank Show - A Petula Clark Special
(1998).

"Petula
is the most talented female performer that Great Britain produced in the
20th century, is my own humble and unbiased assessment of Petula. When
one works so closely with an artist for a long period of time, one sees
the inside of the works as well as making sure that the outside is as
near perfect as can be. Petula's art is not merely singing. The sheer
range of characters she portrays during her "tour de chante"
makes her an actress of formidable 'standing', and as always, when
working together we strived to make the next show better than the
previous one. She is still using her magic on audiences around the world
- she is simply the very best of British." - Kenny Clayton

"Petula
was an absolute joy to work with. It was like being part of a family, we
had been together for so long. One of the lowest points for the both of
us professionally was when theatre impresario Harold Fielding pulled the
plug on Someone Like You, a project she had invested so much time,
energy, emotion and talent into writing and producing. He (Fielding)
didn't even tell us his decision in person, we found out on a Wednesday
afternoon when it went out on the LBC news." - Kenny Clayton

Kenny
lives in Brighton and London and continues to entertain at his chosen
clubs in Soho. His latest album Hommage featuring a new recording
of the Clark / Clayton composition Give It A Try is available to
order online.

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